Reasons
by masterctarl
Summary: Chapter 2 is up. Everything happens for a reason, and everyone has reasons for their actions. But reasons aren't always what you wish them to be. Set shortly after Season 2. Warnings: One-sided slash Puck/Xanatos, Lexington/Male OC , rated T to be safe
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Gargoyles. Don't sue me.

Note: This takes place after the end of Season 2. Season 3 hasn't happened. The beginning mentions a fanfic idea I've been playing with but could never get onto paper, so it instead simply summarizes it and this happens after said idea. I also often simply call Xanatos "David".

Note 2: This fanfic deals with some minor, if mostly one-sided, slash (male/male). Don't like it, don't read it. I don't want to be reading flames.

Chapter 1:

Three months had passed since the incident. Owen had saved Xanatos from an abomination of a machine, an unholy alliance of technology and magic. The machine was built to separate body and soul. Owen was a very special case, though. It had split Owen from the one who had created him – Puck. After the initial shock the Gargoyles, who arrived just moment previous, destroyed the machine.

"Owen, be a good man and start the limousine," Xanatos said, adjusting his tie in the hallway mirror.

"Of course, sir," Owen nodded. He wasn't much affected by the separation. Since he was created to be the complete opposite of Puck anyway, the lack of the Fey's sense of humor wasn't much of a change.

"Fox, darling," David knocked on the door to their room. "Are you ready?"

"Five minutes!" Fox called out.

David sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Didn't she say that five minutes ago?" a hearty voice quipped next to him. David glanced over and noticed Puck hovering beside him. The Fey had developed a habit of sneaking up on the residents of the Xanatos home. "Would you like me to pop in there and _encourage_ her not to be late?"

"That won't be necessary," David said sternly, though he couldn't help but smile. He seemed to be the only one who appreciated Puck's…unique sense of humor.

Honestly, due to the decree made by Oberon, Puck shouldn't' have been able to use his magic. But the separation of him and Owen seemed to form a magical loophole. He still couldn't return to Avalon, but he was content helping the Xanatos' raise Alex. In fact, while David and Fox went to the Dollars for Daisies Orphan Charity Ball, Puck was to baby sit Alex, with the help of Lexington.

"You never let me have any fun," Puck complained, though it was all in good humor.

"Alright," Fox announced as she emerged. "I'm ready. How do I look?" Her hair was up in a fashionable mess on top of her head. She wore a sleek red dress with a slit on the side that showed plenty of leg, and was low-cut enough to show just as much cleavage. She finished the look with a pair of white silk gloves, black thigh-high stockings, and red heels.

David let out a long, low whistle. "You look like Jessica Rabbit gone wild," Puck said. "Complete with dorky husband." Fox laughed at the indignant look David gave him.

"Well, come on," Fox said, taking her husband's arm. "We're going to be late."

"Sorry to keep you waiting…" David muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, dear."

Puck followed them to the elevator. "You kids have fun! Make sure she's home at a reasonable hour!" he joked, waving as the couple stepped in.

"Take good care of Alex!" Fox said as the doors closed.

Puck waited until the elevator started down, then zipped back to Alex's room. The baby was fast asleep and Lexington sat cross-legged on the floor, reading a computer magazine Elisa had brought him.

Puck and Lex seemed to get along quite well. The thing they had most in common was their affections toward Alex. Puck spent what time he could spare teaching the child magic, keeping his agreement with Oberon so as not to raise suspicion. Lexington, on the other hand, enjoyed teaching Alex about everything else he could manage.

"Watcha reading?" Puck asked, hovering over Lex's shoulder.

Lex jumped, having not heard him come in. "I _hate _it when you do that!" he snapped.

Puck grinned and touched down onto the floor. "I wouldn't do it if you didn't." Lex just glared and went back to reading. He knew the Fey didn't really care about the magazine, but was only using it as an excuse to scare him.

Puck folded his arms on the edge of the crib, resting his chin on them and looking at the sleeping baby. One of the things that intrigued him about humans was their young. As humans grew older, their belief and acceptance in that which they didn't understand faded. But as children they never turned away what they saw and knew simply because it was there. He delighted in knowing that Alexander Xanatos would be different. He would grow up taught by Fey and protected by Gargoyles, and raised by the most openly tolerant people of the magical things the world held.

--

"David Xanatos!" a slightly elderly man greeted David and Fox at the front door to the Vaden Estate. The Estate belonged to Nicholas Vaden, a former lawyer who had more than enough money to keep him happy in retirement. The man who greeted them, however, was John Freid, who ran the Daisy Orphanage. He was balding and had a round figure and a kind smile. His wife, who had died five years previous in a plane crash, was the one whom the orphanage was named for. After she died Vaden, a family friend, started the Dollars for Daisies Orphan Charity to help keep the orphanage from falling under. Every year the biggest names in Manhatten gathered to boost their image by donating. There was also a drawing for one of them to take an orphan home for a week, furthering their generous and caring image.

"John!" David replied, smiling. They shook hands firmly. "John, this is my lovely wife, Fox. Fox, this is John Freid."

"How nice to finally meet you," John smiled, kissing her politely on the cheek. "I've heard so much about you. And, forgive me if this seems rude, but you look just like my late wife, Daisy, did in her younger years."

"Thank you," Fox replied. "I'm sure she was a lovely woman. I'm sorry I couldn't have met her."

"And Owen, good to see you again!" John shook his hand firmly as well.

Owen nodded. "Likewise, Mr. Freid."

"How many times must I ask you to call me John?" the elder man asked in good humor. "Forgive my rudeness! Come in! Come in! Enjoy the party!" He gestured them inside and led them to the ballroom, where people of all over Manhatten high society mingled and danced.

"So, what's been happening? How's your son, eh…" John trailed off and developed a concentrated look on his face.

"Alex," Fox finished patiently. "He's fine. Growing healthy and strong."

"And devilishly smart," David smirked.

"Just like his father, eh?" John laughed, slapping David on the back. "If he's a chip off the old block, Manhatten better watch out! We were barely ready for one David Xanatos!" He let out a loud belly laugh.

"Yes, but he has plenty of his mother in him as well," David replied, smiling at his wife with a twinkle in his eye.

--

Lexington glanced up from his magazine, seeing Puck watching Alex sleep. Something about Alex brought out that side of the Fey. "How's he doing?" he asked.

"Sleeping soundly," Puck replied, leaning away from the cradle and taking a seat next to it. "What happened to me? I was once one of the most respected members of Oberon's Court. Now I'm not much more than a glorified babysitter…"

"You met Xanatos," Lex answered bluntly. "That was probably your first mistake."

Puck rolled his eyes. "You act like it's that simple. It's easy to deal with him as Owen. A simple 'Yes, sir', 'Of course, sir', 'Right away, sir' suffices just fine. But as me? As the Puck?" he sighed. "It's complicated."

"You get along with him fine," Lex said, confused.

"It's not about _getting along_ with him. It's being _needed_ by him. Owen does everything he needs. Being needed by Alex is great and fine, but…" Puck glanced at the crib. "To David, I'm useless. He doesn't rely on magic. He likes to do everything by hand."

Lexington's eyes lit up with realization and he smiled coyly. "You _love_ him."

Puck nearly fell off the stool he sat on. "W-what?!" he yelped, completely caught off guard. Alex was woken up by the outburst and started crying. Puck and Lex jumped into action. Puck waved a hand, a stream of silvery magic lifting the baby out of the crib and rocking him back and forth. Lexington grabbed the pacifier off of the night stand and stuck it in Alex's mouth. After a few minutes Alex calmed and fell back asleep. Puck gently lowered him back into the crib and Lex tucked him in. They sighed in relief.

"I am _not_ in love with David," Puck insisted in a whisper this time.

--

David and Fox settled into mingling with the rest of the crowd. A couple of songs they danced, Fox even agreeing to dance with John to a waltz his wife had enjoyed when she was alive. Soon, though, with checks and donations in place, the event was drawing to a close.

Nicholas Vaden, a man slightly older than David with light-brown hair kept short and neat and a slight mustache, took the stage in front of the band. He stood next to John, who was holding a glass jar filled with little papers. "And now, ladies and gentlemen," Vaden announced. The room went silent for his deep voice. "Before we say out goodnights and share the final dance of the evening, it is time to find out who gets to take home one lucky child for a week." He nodded behind him and a drum roll started. John held out the jar and Vaden reached in, looking in the opposite direction to make sure everyone knew he was choosing at random. "And our temporary parents are…" He pulled out a paper and looked. "David and Fox Xanatos!"

Everyone broke into a polite applause. Many congratulated the couple, but they themselves simply looked stunned. When John joined them, he noticed their faces. "What's wrong? Aren't you glad you won?" he asked.

"We would be," David said darkly.

Fox finished the sentence, "If we had _entered_ the drawing."

_To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Still don't own Gargoyles. I do, however, own Lex's 'true' brother and his brother's mate. Please don't steal them.

Chapter 2:

John stared at the couple. "What do you mean _if_? Of course you entered! You couldn't have won if you didn't!"

"Someone must have entered us without our knowledge," David said.

"But _why_?" Fox asked, looking between the two men. "We didn't enter because of Alex! We can't take on another child now!"

"I'm afraid we don't have a choice," David replied darkly. "If we refuse an orphan, what do you think the media will do to us? Going to jail is one thing, but turning away a homeless child is just plain cruel."

John cut in, "And besides, it's only for a week. What harm could it do?"

"Please don't ask that question," David groaned.

--

"I don't trust Vaden," Owen said bluntly as they drove home. He had stayed silent and to the side for the party, not much caring to socialize. No one seemed to mind. To the rich guests at the party he was nothing more than decoration.

"You've been saying that for years," David pointed out, undoing his tie. Fox let her hair down and shook it out. "Do you have any basis behind it?"

"The fact that you won a drawing you didn't enter," Owen replied. He slowed to a stop at a red light and glanced in the mirror at his boss. "And even without my Fey side I can still sense something not right."

"Hmm…" David considered the first point. "Alright, I'll send someone to keep an eye on him. Would that make you feel better?"

"Thank you, sir," Owen nodded.

The rest of the trip was spend in silence. When they reached Eyrie Tower they headed straight for Alex's room. They saw Lexington sitting on the floor, on the last page of his magazine, and Puck leaning back on a stool next to the cradle, making a few toys float circles in the air in front of him.

"Nothing exciting happened I assume?" David smirked.

Puck dropped the toys and sighed. "As exciting as watching a tree grow. I'd know, I've done it. Twenty years of my immortal life I'll never get back."

"He was quiet the whole time, then?" Fox asked, walking over to the cradle and pulling the blanket up on her son.

"The whole night," Puck fibbed.

"Except when Puck yelled at me because he lo-mmph!" Lex was cut off as his magazine suddenly jumped out of his hands and into his mouth. He glared at Puck, who gave him an innocent look.

David raised an eyebrow, but decided it wise not to push the issue. "Well, I guess it's safe to relieve you two. We'll be off to bed," he announced. "Oh, and Lexington? Can you gather the others tomorrow night? There is something rather important I need to discuss with everyone."

"Yeah, sure," Lex replied, pulling pieces of magazine from his mouth.

"Good night, Owen," David patted his assistant on the shoulder as he and his wife returned to their room.

"Good night, sir," Owen nodded, heading back to his own room. He was just removing his jacket when Puck glided in. "Is there something you need, Master Goodfellow?" he asked, not looking away from his mirror. Owen was the only one besides David that Puck couldn't startle, being able to sense his other half's presence.

"Yeah, a heads-up," Puck replied, sitting on the corner of Owen's dresser. "What's so important we have to have a mystical meeting?"

"We'll be taking in an orphan," Owen stated.

Puck looked at him in surprise. "Was it wise of them to enter the drawing with the castle's current…state of magical mayhem?" He was well aware of the orphan drawing, having attended the party the first few times when he and Owen were one.

"They didn't. We suspect fowl play," Owen answered, unbuttoning his shirt. "And I was under the impression you _enjoy_ 'magical mayhem'."

"Of course I do!" Puck retorted. "I just don't think the human world is ready for it! They weren't even ready for Goliath's Clan, and they're rather tame."

"We're taking in a _child_, not the whole city," Owen pointed out. He sat on the bed, removing his shoes and socks. His stone hand wasn't as much of a hindrance as one would think, though only because he was quite used to functioning with it. "Though I see your point. I suspect Mr. Xanatos will ask you and the Gargoyles to keep a low profile while the child is here. We will also have to keep an eye on both him or her and Alexander." He glanced at Puck as the Fey considered all of this. "I'll take it Lexington has found out your dirty little secret?"

Puck cringed. "He's perceptive for a pigeon roost." He leapt off of the dresser and somersaulted into the air, landing gracefully in a cross-legged sit next to his human half. He then folded his hands on Owen's left shoulder and smiled impishly. "Though you say it like you don't feel it, too."

Owen looked at him in annoyance, plucking the Fey's hands off of his shoulder. "I wouldn't feel such things if you didn't," he huffed. He watched Puck warily, having intimate, personal knowledge of the Fey's love to tease those he cared for. And Puck had a special place in his heart for his human half.

"Oh, sure, blame the Puck," the Fey said overdramatically. "I'm an easy target!" He looped a leg around and straddled Owen's lap, removing the servant's glasses. "If you feel it because I do…" he drew his face in an inch from his other half's, "…then it must kill you as much it does me that he'll never love us back." He held his position there, letting it all sink in. Owen simply stared back with the same lack of emotion with which he regarded everything. Puck, however, could feel his human half's subconscious squirming. Satisfied, he gave his other half a quick peck on the nose before disappearing with a shimmer and a, "Tootles!"

Owen's glasses landed on his lap and he sighed, putting them on. He then moved over to his dresser and finished changing into his night clothes. He knew that Puck was right. It did kill him. And it was all the Fey's fault.

--

Lexington wandered into the TV room where Hudson and Bronx were, watching an old movie. He liked watching Alex, but he longed for company that wasn't sleeping.

"Ah, Lad, how is the wee one?" Hudson asked, turning the volume down.

"Alex is fine," Lexington replied, sitting in chair next to his elder.

"No trouble with the Fey then?"

Lexington hesitated. "No, not really."

Hudson looked at him suspiciously. "Aye, then what's between your teeth?"

Lex felt with his tongue, then spat out a piece of page 23. "Oh, that," he laughed embarrassedly. "It's just my magazine. I got in a little…spat with Puck."

"Do I want to know what over?"

Lex hesitated again. He wasn't really going to tell Xanatos Puck's secret. He was just teasing. But Hudson was old and wise and wouldn't tell anyone else. "Well, I found out that Puck…well, he's in love. With Xanatos."

Hudson sat straighter and actually turned the movie off. Bronx gave him an indignant look but stayed silent, seeing that this was important. "I see. I can also see why ye're so interested in it."

"Yeah," Lexington looked at his hands. "It's just like then."

_978 AD:_

The Wyvern Clan of Gargoyles gathered anxiously at the rookery entrance. Everyone had heard that two of the eggs were hatching and wanted a look. Lexington, though then none of them were yet named but Goliath, was with his rookery brothers in the front. He had to be, since he was the smallest and couldn't see over the others.

For what felt like forever, they anxiously waited for the emergence of Hudson and one the eldest female of the clan. It was tradition that the eldest male and female be the ones to greet the hatchlings. Finally, they came out from the rookery, Hudson holding a newly-hatched Bronx, and the eldest female holding another newly hatched female. The tension finally lifted and everyone seemed to cheer for the new, tiny members of the clan.

A few hours later, they returned to the normal pace of things. Many of the clan took to scouting around the castle, including his rookery brothers. Lexington preferred to stay behind and marvel at the various knick-knacks that were sprawled around the castle. Tonight's point of interest was a catapult, which was used to fend off the few invaders that appeared in Wyvern Castle.

Out of nowhere, a pair of hands covered Lex's eyes. "Guess who?" a familiar voice asked.

"Brother…" Lex grinned, knowing full well who was there. He turned around, and faced a Gargoyle very much like himself. The other Gargoyle was the only other in the clan like Lex, with webbed wings spanning from his arms to his legs. He also, like Lex, had no hair. He was a deeper green than the younger Gargoyle, though, and was much taller. This latter aspect was often referred to by Lexington as "just plain wrong".

The other Gargoyle was also the only one, though Brooklyn and Broadway were Lex's rookery brothers, that Lex ever truly referred to as "brother". This was because both of their eggs came from a separate clan than the rest in Wyvern. Their eggs came from a cousin clan of the Wyvern's in Russia, who had two of the Wyvern eggs in exchange for Lex and his brother's as a sign of respect.

"Shouldn't you be out with the others?" Lex asked him, leaning back against the catapult.

"Didn't our leader tell you not to play with the catapult?" his brother retorted. By 'the leader', he meant Hudson who hadn't given leadership to Goliath yet.

"Point well taken," Lex said sheepishly. "I can't help it, whenever I see things like this I just feel the need to _observe_ it."

"I know, but if our leader found out you were touching the humans' machines again he'd have your tail," the other warned. He then softened at the sheepish look Lex gave him. "But…if he finds out, it won't be from me. Even if he strung me up by my tail and forced me to listen to your rookery brother sing."

Lexington snickered. He knew his brother meant Broadway. The beefy Gargoyle was notoriously bad at singing. Truthfully, Lex looked up to his true brother more than anyone else in the clan. He felt like he could relate to him more. The others didn't understand his need to take things apart, to see how they work. The Wyvern Clan was more about hitting things when they didn't work than finding out why they didn't.

"Darling!" a female voice called. A lovely Gargoyle, with red skin like Brooklyn but built more like Desdemona with black hair, landed by them. She took the older Gargoyle's arm and looked at him affectionately. She was his mate, and they seemed to love each other deeply. "Did you tell him?"

"Tell me what?" Lex asked. He didn't know quite why, but he felt a twinge of something akin to pain whenever he saw them together.

"I was just getting to that," his brother said. "After discussing with our leader, he gave my mate and I permission to travel to Russia and seek out our clan," he explained. "We are to leave tomorrow night, right after sunset."

"Really?" Lex was excited. See his original clan? It was like a dream. "And we're leaving tomorrow?"

His brother's mate chuckled. Lex hated that chuckle. It was the sound she made when she was about to treat him like a hatchling. He was hatched 20 years previous, when would she treat him like an equal? "You're not coming with us, dear." That simple sentence pierced Lexington like an arrow.

"What do you mean?" he asked. He looked up at his brother, who gave him a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry, little brother. But it's simply too dangerous, and you're too young." This frustrated Lex even more. He hated when the female treated him like a hatchling. But now his own brother?

"I could handle it!" he insisted.

"I know you think that, and I tried to convince the leader that we could keep an eye on you. But he is staying firm that it wouldn't be wise to let you come along," his brother tried to reason. "I really am sorry."

"Come on, darling," his mate pulled at his arm. "We must tell the others as well!"

"Of course, I'm coming," he replied, smiling. "I'm sorry, little brother. See us off, at least," he requested. Lexington just looked away in anger, and his brother and his mate rushed off to find the next person to tell.

The next night, Lexington stood with the others again, but this time instead of greeting a life into their clan, they were saying goodbye. "Well, little brother," the older, Russian Clan Gargoyle said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "This is it. I promise I'll come back and see you, okay?"

Lexington didn't say anything. He'd been brooding over what to say to his brother for a long time, but couldn't think of anything. His brother sighed and hugged the smaller Gargoyle. "Goodbye, little brother." As soon as he let go, Lex could already feel a hole starting to form in his heart.

His brother's mate said goodbye to her clan members as well. As soon as they were done with goodbyes to them, they turned to Hudson. "Well, clan leader," the female said, smiling. She hugged him. "Wish us luck."

"Aye, lassie," Hudson smiled. "Good luck to both of you. May the wind be kind to you."

"Thank you," Lex's brother said, stepping up to the edge of the castle wall. "Well," he looked back at them all one last time. "Farewell, everyone." With that, he and his mate took off, gliding swiftly away.

In that moment, as Lex watched his brother leave, the pieces seemed to click into place all at once. The pain he felt in his chest when he saw his brother and the female and how much they loved each other. The hole he felt inside of him that seemed to grow larger the farther away he got. Lex felt like an idiot for not understanding it all until now. And he knew what he wanted to say.

"Brother!" he called out, hoping he could still hear him. He was in luck, as his brother looked over his shoulder. "I-" he stopped as he saw his brother's mate look as well. They loved each other so much. He couldn't tear that apart. "Goodbye!" he finally called. He saw his brother smile and turn back away, and the hole got bigger.

_Present day:_

"I still regret it," Lexington said, looking back up at Hudson. "Not telling him how I felt, I mean. But…"

"It's alright, lad, I know," Hudson nodded. "I'll tell you the same thing I told you when you approached me then. Ye did the right thing by letting him go. Loving someone means knowing when to let them go." Hudson at the time hadn't been surprised at the young Gargoyle's feelings for his Russian Clan brother. Though it was very rare, it wasn't unheard of for two Gargoyles of the same gender to be mates.

"I think Puck already understands that," Lex sighed, folding his arms against the arm of the chair and resting his chin on them. "He's already accepted that Xanatos is a happily married man and probably wouldn't have had feelings for Puck even if he wasn't."

"But…?" Hudson encouraged him to open up more.

"But…I still don't think I've completely accepted what happened," Lex admitted.

"There isn't anything ye could do about it now, anyway. That was over a thousand years ago, lad. I'm sorry to say it, but we don't even know if the Russian Clan survived this long itself." Hudson knew it was a harsh truth, but it was a truth nonetheless. And no matter how much Lexington didn't want to, he needed to hear it. After a moment, Hudson stood up, putting a hand on Lex's shoulder. "Come, lad. The sun will be up soon. We should meet the others. You'll feel better after a good day's sleep."

_To be continued…_


End file.
